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February 25, 2006
NASON CREDENTIALS QUESTIONED, BUT SHE’LL RUN NHTSA
Nicole Nason, DOT’s chief lobbyist and the new appointee for NHTSA administrator, was considered virtually certain to get the top auto safety regulatory job after a Feb. 8 Senate committee hearing on her nomination by the White House. Committee members from both sides of the aisle support the nomination and her approval by the Senate is virtually guaranteed. But there’s concern among some safety advocates that Nason is short on qualifications and, in addition, has a track record of opposing the vehicle safety initiatives she must enforce at NHTSA.
They stress that “most previous NHTSA chiefs had extensive experience in public health, public safety or transportation policy…such a background is important because the agency is about to write new rules in key areas such as side-impact and vehicle-rollover standards and power-window safety, all mandated by last year's transportation bill, according to a Knight-Ridder report.
“Nason's experience advocating the administration's transportation priorities on Capitol Hill has generated much of the opposition to her nomination. She was a senior member of the administration lobbying team opposing deadlines for auto safety provisions in last year's highway bill,” reported ConsumerAffairs.com. Separately, Reuters noted that “Nason's lead credential is advocating the administration's transportation priorities on Capitol Hill. She was instrumental in making known the administration's opposition to deadlines for auto safety provisions in last year's highway bill.”
Posted by MVHAP at February 25, 2006 04:48 PM